Wednesday 1 May 2013

Not in stock

I love libraries and I use them as often as I can; if we don't use them, we lose them and that would be a tragedy for the world.

But sometimes, they do have the power to surprise me. The other day, I was checking on the availability of books I was wanting to read and found to my surprise that they didn't have Beau Geste.

I'm sorry, sir, we've not got that one.
 This startled me; not even in their stack of old books that don't get to see the light of day very often was it to be found. I may find a one-penny second hand copy on Amazon, buy it, read it and then donate it.

Has there been a time that you've wanted a book, assumed that it would be in the library and then found that it wasn't?  And what did you do about it?

3 comments:

  1. Hi thanks for stopping by my blog, it is always nice to meet a fellow writer. Unfortunately I don't get to visit our local library all that often because the hours of opening don't fit in around my day job etc. I think it is sad so many are closing or reducing hours of opening.

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  2. Fortunately, our library is open till 8pm on a Tuesday and Thursday. I'm out of work but when I was working, it meant it was possible for me to pop in. I completely agree with you about the threat to libraries; in our local authority, there have been no closures but I know this is not the case country-wide and it's something that needs to be resisted if at all possible.

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  3. Speaking as a former librarian, there are millions of good books, and only limited shelf space for them in a building. That's what makes e-books so exciting. Unlimited space! Good luck on donating the old book to the library, and don't be surprised if they don't add it to the collection. If a new copy is available, that might cause them to reconsider.

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